(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to tools and more particularly to hand held ratchet wrench.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Sucker rods often or normally have square fittings upon which hand held wrenches may be attached. Before this invention the normal procedure to connect or disconnect the rods was to attach one wrench to the lower section of the sucker rod and another wrench to the upper section of the sucker rod and have sufficiently long handles upon the wrenches so that manual force applied to the end of the wrench supplied sufficient torque to tighten the joint or to loosen it.
Also in making up threaded pipe joints the same practice was followed. However, normally a movable jaw type wrench having teeth was used to grip cylindrical pipes.
In oil well practice with heavy pipes or drill stem it is customary to use a motor driven wrench or tong to rotate and tighten the pipes. Even on light tubing or sucker rods motor driven wrenches were known to the art.
When connecting or disconnecting tubing, pipe, or sucker rod in a well it was known to place slips above the surface of the earth to prevent the elongated elements (tubing, pipe, or sucker rod) from falling in the well and prevent rotation.
Before this application was filed, a search was made in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. That search developed the following patents:
______________________________________ HARPER ET AL 466,232 ANSORGE 766,577 ROCHE 1,670,214 PETERSON ET AL 2,456,838 KOSTKA 3,009,372 MORROW 3,448,641 ______________________________________
KOSTKA discloses a slidable pawl ratchet type wrench. It is designed to drive a lug to fit within a socket for nuts, bolt heads, or the like. For the purpose of ratcheting a slot was provided between the wrench head and the torque handle so that the pawl could engage a ratchet wheel directly attached to the square lug.
HARPER ET AL discloses a similar slidable pawl ratchet type wrench except that instead of driving a square lug for a socket, he drives a diferent type of work engagement means.
PETERSON ET AL discloses a hand held ratchet wrench which has a radially slotted head and socket. The radially slotted socket can engage the work and socket be rotated by pawls upon the radially slotted head. The entire tool is designed to connect to a single nut.
The additional three patents appear not to be as pertinent as the specific patents discussed above. They are included only because the applicant believes the Examiner would be interested in any art reported by an experienced searcher.